


Yopparai

by EvaLilith



Category: Sengoku Basara
Genre: Alcohol, Drunkenness, M/M, Pining, Scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-23
Updated: 2013-09-23
Packaged: 2017-12-27 09:57:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/977416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvaLilith/pseuds/EvaLilith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Date Army is invited to celebrate a hanami festival in Kai. Kojuurou and Sasuke slip away from the crowds and share some sake on their own. Headcanon heavy concerning Sasuke's past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Yopparai

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 日本語 available: [【翻訳】Yopparai](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096904) by [onihei](https://archiveofourown.org/users/onihei/pseuds/onihei)



Sasuke isn’t really one for crowds, and watching Yukimura and the One-Eyed Dragon compete at every single aspect of the festival gets old quickly, especially as the evening wears on and they pull apart from each other less and less. So, when he sees the Dragon’s Right Eye slip off into the darkness, he follows. 

Katakura pauses next to a secluded cherry tree, leaning on it and looking up at the blossoms.

Sasuke lands on a low branch and grins down at him. “I should have expected that you actually enjoy viewing the flowers, Master Katakura.”

The man refuses to jump, even when Sasuke appears out of nowhere, which is one of the things the ninja likes about him. “We still have snow up in Oushuu. Our trees will not bloom for a few more weeks.” He looks up at Sasuke. “It was gracious of Takeda to invite us.”

“More like he did it to preserve his own sanity, after Danna got the idea in his head.” They both glance over at the red and blue sparks coming from the center of the festivities. Sasuke shakes his head. “But we mull over the pair of them enough as it is. We should get to enjoy ourselves once in awhile, too.” He flips to dangle from the branch by his legs and produces a large jug of sake from inside his yukata, offering it. “What d’ya say?”

Katakura regards him thoughtfully, then takes the sake. Sasuke lets himself fall from the branch, flipping before he hits the ground to land on his feet before sitting down next to the other retainer.

They are silent for the first two cups, but it is companionable, not awkward, another thing Sasuke likes about the Right Eye. The man shares an appreciation for quiet that Sasuke is hard-pressed to find in Kai. He suspects Katakura doesn’t have it much better. 

He stretches. “Well, you might have come out here not to see it, but you’ve been scowling at my Danna less lately. Are you starting to accept the state of affairs between our lords?”

“I thought we weren’t talking about that,”

“Well, I’m not sure what else to talk to you about, Master Right Eye! You’re not exactly here of your own choosing, so I’m not sure there’s anything in Kai that interests you.”

Katakura looks over at him. “You hold interest enough.”

Sasuke blinks. “And what possible interest could the Right Eye of the Dragon of Oushuu have in a Sanada ninja?”

Katakura snorts. “You give yourself too little credit, Sarutobi. For example, I knew well enough about the attack on the Sanada, and the Tiger of Kai taking on the surviving heir as his Young Cub... but until Lord Masamune mentioned something Sanada had told him, I had no idea you were the one to rescue him.”

Sasuke takes another sip of his sake and shrugs. “Well, it was my job.”

Katakura raises an eyebrow at him, taking a sip of his own sake. “You must have been very young yourself, at the time.”

Sasuke leans back against the tree. “I was twelve. The Sanada weren’t known to have any particular enemies, so guarding their five-year-old heir was supposed to be an easy first job. It turned out differently.”

“But you still succeeded.” Katakura looks at him thoughtfully. “He is the only master you’ve had, then?”

Sasuke sighs. “Yep. As thanks for keeping him safe, and so that he’d at least have someone familiar around, Lord Shingen took over my contract.” He refills his cup. “But what about you, Master Katakura? You’ve been with the Dragon since he was small, too.”

“...Yes, although that was different, since I was his teacher at first.” Katakura pours again as well. “How did the two of you come to Kai, though? Did Shingen send someone to investigate the attack?”

“Ah, no, I... I carried him here. By the time I got to him, they... the rest of the family had fallen, and I’d barely seen any of our own troops, so there wasn’t much sense in trying to stay around and fight. Kai was the closest place that seemed safe to take him.” 

“So you didn’t just save his life, but were actually the one to bring him here.”

Sasuke shrugs again. “Like I said, it was my job to protect him. It wasn’t supposed to get that difficult, but we can’t really control that. I’m sure you weren’t expecting to have to deal with your master losing his eye, either.”

Katakura stiffens, but after a moment, he nods. “I was not.”

There is silence again, longer this time, but still companionable in the glow of the sake. They are both leaning on the tree, now, and knots in the trunk have nudged them closer together, so they are shoulder to shoulder. It is a beautiful night, and several fireworks have been set off- proper ones, not the sparks from Yukimura and Masamune. 

“...Ne, Sarutobi. Has it been difficult to protect him since then? I mean, I see you on the battlefield, but have there been other sneak attacks like that? I never hear about you being just a regular ninja. You’re always in the middle of the battle.”

“...well, it’s mostly been like that since Danna was allowed to take the field...” Sasuke’s hand strays to his left shoulder, absently rubbing at a point just under the edge of his yukata. “But there were a few times, when he was younger.” He leans forward to pour himself another cup.

Kojuurou had moved a hand to shift the yukata just a little, wondering what Sarutobi was rubbing at. As the ninja leans forward, Kojuurou is still gripping the edge, and the garment comes loose, revealing his whole upper back.

Sarutobi stops, looking back lazily. “...Well, that was unexpected.”

“My apologies, I only...” Kojuurou trails off as he actually looks at the bared skin. 

Sarutobi’s back is covered in scars. Thin long ones from sharp blades; small ragged scars that speak of deeply embedded arrows; dark, oddly shaped traces of burns. Where he had touched his shoulder lies the tip of one long, wide scar, faded and crossed over several times, running from his left shoulder toward his right hip and disappearing under the yukata.

Kojuurou had started to draw his hand back, but now he almost instinctively reaches out again, tracing a finger down the once-torn skin. His own face proves he is no stranger to such injuries himself, and Masamune has more of his own scars than the retainer would prefer (though not on his back, Kojuurou has protected that, always), but he is still surprised. “I would have thought very few people could sneak up on you, Sarutobi. How did you come by this? And by so many other scars on your back?”

Sarutobi knocks back the cup of sake he has poured, fills it again, and knocks it back again before hitching the yukata back up (though not bothering to do so all the way) and flopping back. He ends up in the crook of Kojuurou’s arm, but neither of them can be bothered to readjust.

“As far as how many there are, I’ve seen you on the battlefield, Master Right Eye. You keep a better eye on your lord’s back than your own, and I do the same. But that one...” He gazes up into the branches of the tree, and his eyes grow dark. “That’s the closest I’ve ever come to failing.”

He pauses so long that Kojuurou isn’t sure he’ll continue, but eventually, he speaks again, quietly. “Things were quiet when we first got here, but eventually, some of the same people who murdered his family started sending assassins after Yukimura. They didn’t hire very good ones, and Yukimura could sleep through a war, so I had always dispatched them without him even being aware of it. Lord Shingen and I had agreed that telling him would only frighten him- he was still too young to be able to do anything about it.

“We had also been working on tracking them to their source, and we thought we had taken care of them. I got careless. By the time I realized something was wrong, they were already inside. When I reached his room, the blade was already swinging downward.”

His hand strays up to the mark again. “I braced myself over him and took the blow. It laid my whole back open, as you’ve seen... but it was meant to be the front of a ten-year-old boy. It very nearly was.

“And I killed that man, and then we made sure that we did handle them, but...” He seems barely aware he is speaking to Kojuurou at this point. “That could have been me, just as easily. I’ve never had to assassinate anyone, not like that, but it’s what I was trained to do, brought up to be able to do. If I had a master that did that sort of thing, maybe I’d even be fine with it. But I’ve only had him, you know? He barely even realizes a ninja is supposed to be different.” 

Kojuurou lets his head droop, his cheek resting on Sasuke’s forehead. “Is that why you’re always out in the middle of the battlefield?”

“Mmm. I suppose so.”

“Does he know you did that for him?”

“No. I don’t want him to. He’d only feel guilty about something he can’t change- couldn’t have changed, even then.”

Kojuurou’s mouth quirks. “You really do give yourself too little credit, Sarutobi. You may have been just another ninja when you started out, but that’s not the case any more. Not just because you are particularly skilled- though you are- but because of how much you care for your master.”

“Hah. You make me sound like Kasuga.”

“Are the two of you so different? This is your assigned post, but if your contract were to lapse somehow, would you really be able to leave?”

The ninja closes his eyes. “I... try not to think about that.” He sighs. “But I do envy your freedom, Master Katakura. Well, you may be a bit locked in now... but you did get to make a choice to begin with.”

Kojuurou sighs. “And what thanks do we get? They choose each other.”

“I thought we weren’t talking about that.”

“Even if we aren’t talking about that, we’re talking about the two of them. Don’t you find it a bit aggravating?”

Sasuke shrugs and opens one eye. “What would you rather talk about, then?”

Kojuurou turns his head to look down at the him properly, and is struck, suddenly, by what a lovely picture the ninja makes. He rarely sees Sasuke without his mask, but now he is barefaced and relaxed, his yukata still half open, a pink petal settled in the hollow of his collarbone.

He bows his head. Sasuke stiffens when their lips meet, but he doesn’t pull away, and in a moment is returning the kiss as avidly as Kojuurou is giving it. They gradually slip sideways, Sasuke propping himself up on one elbow with Kojuurou braced over him.

Eventually, they break apart and fall to the grass, Kojuurou half on top of Sasuke and nuzzling into the crook of his neck. 

“You’re drunk,” Sasuke murmurs.

Kojuurou laughs, a surprisingly genuine chuckle. “So are you.”

“Mmm.” Sasuke leans his head against Kojuurou’s. “This is nice, though.”

“So there are things you like of your own accord,” Kojuurou murmurs against his skin.

“Shhh. That’s a secret.”

“One I’m glad I’ve learned. And that I’d rather keep for myself.”

They lie there and watch moonlit branches sway in the breeze until their breath falls into the steady rhythm of sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is 'drunk' in Japanese because I am bad at titles.
> 
> Sasuke's scars, how he got them, and his mention of bringing Yukimura to Kai are all my own personal headcanons (though some were built on the headcanons of others). 
> 
> What are Yukimura and Masamune competing at, since hanami festivals are usually about eating and drinking and enjoying the flowers? I don't know, but I'm sure they found something.


End file.
